Fish
by primevalyank
Summary: Primarily Jess/Becker but also other members of the ARC team are thrown into new situations that require them to use a different skill set to save their team and the ARC itself from dangerous anomalies.
1. Chapter 1

FISH

Gulp…..I've had this idea rolling around in my head for weeks and decided to put it to paper for my first story…..it may not be pretty but let's face it….nothing's easy until you've figured out how to do it well. Though this is a Becker/Jess story (pre-relationship) it involves most of the team. There aren't any prehistoric fish…..it's a reference to being a "fish out of water" and being put in roles out of ones comfort zone…and also an apology for the "tech speak" here….wish I was more computer savvy to make it more realistic…..sorry this first chapter is lots of talking…action later…..

Jess Parker's hands whipped quickly over the keyboard calling up the written reports from the anomaly that opened in a park in Derry, several hours away from the ARC yesterday. Her eyes darted quickly over the field report displayed on the screen and narrowed as she noticed several important pieces of the report still left blank. The anomaly itself had been rather benign, but had several unusual aspects that needed to be documented on the report that the author had edited but not finished. She swiveled in her seat just in time to see the author of the report walk quietly into the hub and pick up a tablet to check training schedules for the next day.

"Becker," she asked with a note of exasperation in her voice, "Is it possible you could complete your field reports with ALL sections filled out before you download it as complete? That way I could spend more time actually coordinating than correcting errors and sending them back to team members before presenting it to Lester…." Though she meant to sound something like a stern teacher lecturing a misbehaving student, the minute she locked eyes with him, a soft smile on her part ruined the effect.

For his part, Hilary Becker sighed with a repentant expression on his face. Jess noticed the circles under his eyes and knew he had worked several shifts without much sleep in between and began to feel a bit guilty for haranguing him about the report. A lock of dark hair fell softly over his forehead and she resisted the urge to push it back into place.

"Sorry, Jess….These multiple anomalies are really taking a toll on my ability to get the men trained to deal with them and then deal with the anomalies themselves, let alone write the reports to detail what's happening." Becker moved closer to Jess' chair as he looked over her shoulder at the missing parts of the report. Today she smelled like jasmine. Her auburn hair brushed her shoulders as well as the hand he had over the top of her chair. He wondered what would happen if he twirled one of the strands between his fingers…What was he thinking? He didn't have time to take so much as a 30 minute rest period and here he was daydreaming about Jess…on the job…..a job that needed his full attention. He quickly straightened and pulled his hand back from her chair.

"I should have completed this report last night instead of leaving it till later," he stated flatly and you should be reading me the riot act for not having those done, Jess, instead of letting me push my work off on you. If I let my own men get away with that I wouldn't be much a leader….certainly not one they would follow…." He smiled at her. "But I would guess that you wouldn't be first choice to lead my men and I certainly would be a fish out of water trying to coordinate our teams in the field." He picked up the tablet and walked across the hub to the elevator that would take him down to the armory. Jess smirked as she called across the room, "I already tell your men what to do and where to go when I'm working here so I'm obviously much better at multi-tasking than you. As the doors to the elevator slid shut he remarked "I can operate every hi-tech weapon in the armory so how hard could your ADD be to operate?" giving her an equally unrepentant smirk..

Jess sighed loudly as she swiveled her chair back to face forward as she heard a soft laugh from the corridor entry door that led down to the menagerie. Abby Maitland walked into the hub and while viewing the ADD from behind Jess, she leaned down as she whispered.

"Well you two are just adorable aren't you?"

Jess' blush would be obvious across the room.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Abby. Becker and I are coworkers and that's it. Besides, let's just suppose I had an…ahem…"interest" in Captain Becker, unless my first name was Smith and last name was Wesson, I'm sure that feeling wouldn't be reciprocated so let's just put that supposition to rest, shall we?"

Abby's sideways grin begged to differ.

"Listen, Jess, I've worked with animals my entire life. People may not whine and bark at each other like animals do, well maybe Lester barks a bit, but they give the same signals and I'm telling you he's definitely interested….maybe more than interested….the question is what and when is he going to do something about it."

Jess rolled her eyes and continued typing the report trying to think of a subject, any subject, that would distract Abby from analyzing her and Becker's relationship, or lack of it, any further.

"Okay, Miss animal behaviorist, since we're on the subject, my parents are having an awful time with their dog, Micah. He's follows commands from my mother immediately but pays no attention to anything my dad wants him to do. He tried using dog treats but once those are gone, Micah complete ignores him…..any suggestions?"

Abby gazed thoughtfully at the ceiling.

"Well, my first guess is that your mother is using body language that shows the dog that she is "alpha" . You know, standing tall, shoulders back, commanding posture….body language that is telling the dog she's boss. Your dad should do that too. He should express himself confidently with words and body language."

Jess smiled….Success. Target distracted.

"Thanks, Abby. I'll pass that on to my parents. Now I need to get down to the armory to get Becker's signature on this report."

Connor Temple opened his laptop to download the program Matt needed for the software updates on the EMD's. The ARC computers were having difficulty reading and processing the software upgrades and it took several hours of intense research to pinpoint that the compatibility problem was triggered by a rather new virus that found its way into the system. As Matt entered the room, Connor pulled the drive out of its slot and handed it smoothly to him. Matt picked up the nearest weapon and handed it to Connor to examine.

"These really have seen intensive use lately. Should we be breaking them down to check the internal hardware?" he observed as Matt looked up in surprise.

"Well how about I worry about the weaponry and you stick to research, Connor? He replied smiling. "Last time I conducted your weapons certification you almost took out one of the mainframe computers…."

Connor smiled amicably.

"I've got skills, Matt. They just don't present themselves in an obvious firefight situation."

Matt laughed.

"Well thanks for finding this tech info. We needed to have these upgraded with all the anomalies we've been dealing with lately."

They walked out of the science lab toward the elevator.

Jess hurried out of the hub and into the elevator that led down to the armory. She let herself think again of the things Abby had mentioned and for one moment imagined what had made Abby think that Becker would be interested in her. Those hazel eyes made her weak in the knees just thinking about what a date with Becker might involve. She shook herself mentally, chiding herself for what she was sure was an unreciprocated girlish crush.

Stepping out of the elevator, Jess scanned her wristband and entered the long, narrow hallway that led to the armory. The door was midway down the long hall which led eventually to a large auditorium with multiple entrances from the outside hallways. Materials were often stored there until needed at the ARC. Just as she arrived at the armory door, a young soldier approached her. Lieutenant McKittrick was a fairly new and ambitious recruit. He was quite tall with broad shoulders that moved smoothly as he walked up to her. Abby often joked that McKittrick always looked like he was "carrying suitcases" even when he wasn't since he never missed an opportunity to display his muscular torso.

"This is a restricted area, Miss….?" He stated a bit more loudly than necessary.

Jess sighed. She had already introduced herself to him on his first day but it seemed he'd completely forgotten….probably all that muscle made little room for gray matter.

"Lt. McKittrick, I'm Jess Parker, the Field Coordinator. I have clearance."

"I'll need to check that with Captain Becker, Ma'am …Please wait here."

Jess began to feel very annoyed. This was taking too much time when there was a large stack of work waiting for her in the hub.

"Lt. McKittrick, I'm in a bit of a hurry so if you could…"

"Procedure ma'am….Please follow orders and wait…

"You are dismissed, McKittrick. This is Jess Parker, the FCO, which you should be aware of. Look over the personnel files and get familiar with the staff…immediately…" boomed a deep voice from the door of the armory. Becker stood in the doorway of the armory, his hands behind his back.

McKittrick stepped back and blinked.

"Yes, sir, sorry, sir,…..I just didn't realize…." He stuttered. He suddenly stood up straighter and exited the corridor.

"Sorry about that, Jess. He's a good man. He just has trouble following instructions from the non-military personnel. What brings you down …."

He looked expectantly into her large, blue eyes and immediately forgot the rest of the sentence.

"...here….yes, here…what brings you down here?"

Jess laughed. "I'm not allowed to come down here where you keep all your toys, Becker? I just brought the completed report that needed your signature."

He smiled, glad to have the conversation back on track. He quickly signed the paperwork as Jess waited expectantly.

"There you are Miss Parker and thank you for fixing my mistake. I definitely owe you a favor!"

"Well, next time I need to run a long, boring diagnostic on the computer I'll just give that to you to finish, shall I?" she answered, smiling and started out the door. In the distance, multiple flashes with accompanying booms resounded throughout the building as the alarms began to clang.


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

Becker had turned to walk back toward the large rack that held a set of EMD's waiting to be upgraded and charged when the alarm and subsequent explosions rocked the ARC. His first impulse should have been to run toward the sounds emanating from the storage auditorium at the other end of the narrow hall. Instead, his first instinct was to run toward the stunned field coordinator who was standing halfway down the hall to the right of the armory door.

"Jess!" he yelled over the blaring sirens.

She turned to look at him with a stunned look upon her face.

"Becker! What's happening?"

He grabbed her arm and pulled her into the armory door. "Jess, I'm not getting any radio traffic on the comms so I'm not sure." He turned to the rack of EMD's and began pulling several off the rack and checking to see if any were upgraded or charged.

"Damn! Matt and Connor have all the fully charged weapons up in the lab for the upgrade. These won't last long if we need these to defend ourselves. Jess, stay here. I need to get to the lab to get the rest of our EMD's!"

Jess began to follow him out the door. "Becker, I've got to get to the hub. I need to get to the ADD to coordinate our field positions! We can't have our teams running through the ARC not knowing where the anomalies are. This isn't any different than the anomalies that occur in the field. Do what you have to do, but I'm on my way to the Hub…. Becker…. her voice was softer as she enunciated each word and gazed up at him calmly. "…Let go of my arm….You know that's where I need to be!"

The soldier in him knew she was right. But the part of him that carried her around the ARC after the beetle attack , keeping her alive by sheer force of will, was waging a hard campaign to ignore his practical military side.

"Damn it...yes….We both need to go to ground level to reach the Hub and the Lab."

He grabbed one of the larger EMD's and took her hand as they ran through the hallway to the lift that led to the ground level floor of the ARC.

Connor had just moved two of the EMD's to the transport cart outside the lab when the alarm klaxon echoed through the hallway. Matt, who had crawled under a table to retrieve Connor's laptop where it had been stored, jumped in surprise at the first alarm and slammed his head on the table above. The sound of an explosion echoed around the hallway as Matt staggered toward the door.

"Connor, What the Hell is going on? Was that some kind of explosion?" he yelled over the reverberation.

Connor listened for any broadcast information over the comms or the loudspeaker and heard nothing.

"Matt, grab my laptop! I'm not hearing any information over the comms. My laptop is still linked to the ARC systems so I should be able to find out what's going on."

Matt hurried into the lab to pick up the computer he had dropped when the alarm sounded. Suddenly, the steel door to the lab, installed as a failsafe when ARC scientists were working with dangerous animal s in this particular area, came sliding down from the ceiling and quickly cut off Matt's only exit from the small lab.

Connor ran to the steel door and began to search for a release button which he quickly found. After several attempts he knew that the override system had engaged and no amount of prodigious button pushing would allow Matt to leave the lab.

"Matt!" Connor yelled through the bullet proof glass. "The failsafe has been engaged. There's no way you're getting out of there. We deleted the climate control programs so at least you won't have to deal with a loss of oxygen. I need to get to the hub to find a way to get you out of there and find out what's going on!"

Matt stared at Connor with disbelief on his face. He felt completely helpless in an emergency situation that he was unable to control. Connor pointed at his laptop, still on the floor where Matt had dropped it.

"Matt, you need to log on to my computer and find out what's going on. I'm still connected to the ARC systems. YOU have access to those programs. As soon as I can get to the hub, I'll have Jess fix our communication problem and give you instructions," Connor shouted through the window.

"Connor, you must be kidding! There's got to be a way to get me out of here. I just can't sit in here when the ARC has an incursion…..I've got to do something!"

Matt almost sounded a bit panicked at the thought of being trapped in the lab. Connor lowered his voice and tried his best to diffuse the situation for him.

"Matt, we're just exchanging roles, yeah? You're doing my job and I guess, for a bit, I'm doing yours! Hey, no worries, right? We've got this! I've got two of the fully charged EMD's and I'm going to the Hub. Becker will be there and I'll just give them to him and his team. It's a plan. As soon as I get more information I'll contact you. In the meantime, get that information for the team. Don't want to go into this thing blind."

Matt envisioned Connor leading the team into an incursion in the ARC. He wasn't feeling any better. This wasn't going to end well. Worst of all, they would be counting on him to do Connor's job, which involved tech skills he was sure he didn't possess. Speaking with a confidence he didn't feel he yelled quickly to the young technician, "You're right…..Get those weapons to the Hub and for God's sakes find out where those anomalies are and get me the Hell out of here so I can deal with this anomaly in person."

Connor turned quickly and ran to the nearest lift to get to the Hub as quickly as possible.

Becker and Jess breathlessly arrived at the Hub at the same moment as Abby.

"Becker, Jess….where are the anomalies?….I heard an explosion of some sort…..the comms are dead….," Abby looked wildly around the hub as Jess ran to the ADD.

"Where's Eric? I left him at the comms when I went down to the armory," Jess' fingers moved quickly over the keyboard accessing the information they needed. Her eyes widened.

"We have multiple anomalies occurring in the ARC itself; one two floors down in the auditorium storage and another on this floor about 100 meters down this hallway." She turned to look at Becker and Abby as they anxiously stood behind her. "Because of the anomaly on this floor, the evacuation was activated for the hub. That's why there are no personnel …."

"Why don't I hear chatter over the comms?," Becker cut her off mid-flow. "I should be hearing my men contacting me for their orders?"

Jess' concentration was focused on the large volume of information flowing across her screen. Becker watched as she assessed and managed each new feed that flowed onto the monitor as she deftly moved each new window into an ordered matrix so that it could be interpreted and utilized by the team. He marveled at her ability to take in every scrap of info, assessing its relevance to the situation at hand, and distributing it over the comms to the ARC personnel who desperately needed it. She was nothing short of amazing and though he watched her do this on a regular basis, he knew at that moment that he never fully appreciated the skill and energy it took to perform this task. He wondered how the people who came before him at the ARC were able to be so successful at their jobs without this flow of information being fed to them by the young women sitting in front of him.

Jess leaned forward, eyes wide, and turned to Becker and Abby.

"The explosion you heard was the power grid in the auditorium on level three. There are incursions in both the anomaly down the hall and in the auditorium….." she hesitated and looked directly at Becker.

"The failsafe has not only activated for all the labs and the armory but it has cut off your men and trapped them in the training area on the lower level. They're not in danger from climate control, but it means we're on our own here!..."

Becker and Abby stared at each other. A look of determination crossed both their faces at the same moment. Each one instantly knowing what they needed to do. Becker strode quickly over to the small pile of EMDs and silently handed Abby the weapon.

A hissing sound erupted from the hallway to the right of the hub. A raptor-like creature, about six feet tall, with large eyes and and a sickle-shaped claws on each foot, moved slowly into the hub as Abby took defensive position and Becker quietly grabbed Jess by the arm, moving her behind the large screen for some kind of protection.

Thanks for reading! I will probably update weekly….I am planning four to five chapters on this story!


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

After staring for a few seconds at the steel door in front of him, Matt Anderson hurried over to pick up the laptop under the table. He'd always felt ready to deal with whatever emergency situation this life threw at him. He'd grown up in a world of uncertainty: survival was a victory of sorts growing up in an environment that was constantly trying to kill you. As long as you were proactive and attacked the problem you were likely to make it out alive. This was NOT a situation that he was leading the attack. He was tech support….oh damn…..he was Connor. His eyes narrowed as he stared at the screen in front of him. He remembered a T shirt he'd seen on the street yesterday when he stopped for a coffee. What would Jesus do?…WWJD, it said…He realized if he was wearing one of those shirts right at this moment it should say "What would Connor do?...WWCD." How many times when the team was fighting incursions had Connor come forward with a piece of the solution that let them come away with the anomaly closed and lives saved? He immediately felt calmer. He had a plan. Find out what was coming through the anomalies and get the team the information they needed to stay alive. He could do that. He began entering information into the laptop. This was an attack plan.

Abby wordlessly gestured to Becker that she would cover him as he moved forward to get a clear shot at the creature. It looked like a raptor in size and shape but the huge eyes were not a feature of that species. However, the large claws on both feet were definitely similar and definitely used to slash its victims in the same manner. It moved carefully and purposefully around the entrance to the hub as if looking and assessing the position of the humans it had just encountered. Becker stepped out from behind the half wall he had been crouching behind and took aim at the dinosaur's torso knowing, from experience, that this would be the best target to take down the creature with one shot. He had to conserve power since this EMD was not completely charged.

Jess, standing behind the large ADD monitor, tried to calm herself as she watched Becker move quickly out from behind his cover to take a shot at the creature. Becker was completely exposed and though she had great confidence in his ability to bring down the animal, she knew these were extraordinary circumstances. Abby and Becker had no back up. His men were trapped two floors down and his first shot had to be perfect. A miss would mean the creature would charge and Abby would be the last line of defense. Her fear for he and Abby was palpable. She needed to push it down. If the unthinkable happened she, alone, would be their last chance to survive this. The creature suddenly snapped its head around to see Becker taking aim. At that moment, an impossibly fast movement from behind knocked him off his feet and sent the EMD flying toward the wall. A second animal attacked from the side and began to slash at him with its sickle shaped claw. Jess screamed as Abby yelled Becker's name and jumped forward to shoot the second creature. Abby jumped out of position and neatly shot the dinosaur in the torso to quickly incapacitate it. The first creature seemed to sense Abby's vulnerability with her back facing the entry and jumped forward to knock her into the wall head first as her weapon skittered across the floor and landed near the lift.

Connor made a decision to use the quickest means to the hub which required using the lift. He ran toward it, awkwardly carrying the two EMD's from the lab and pushed the ground floor buttons several times in hopes of encouraging the doors to close faster and get him to the command center as quickly as possible. As the doors shut and the humming of the motor commenced, Connor prayed silently that Abby was safely in the hub and not on the lower floors. He had no delusions that she wasn't capable of taking care of herself…no probably MORE capable than he of taking care of herself but worry for her was at the forefront of his thoughts at the moment. As soon as he apprised Jess and hopefully Becker of the situation and contacted Matt to check on his progress on the database search, he knew he had to find her to ease his fears. The lift doors opened and in a split second Connor's fears were realized. Becker lay on the floor bleeding from a deep leg wound. Abby lay unconscious next to the wall while simultaneously a raptor-like creature was moving quickly toward Abby. Jess darted across the room toward an EMD that was lying next to the wall near Becker.

"CONNOR! Jess screamed, "Shoot it….NOW!"

Connor dropped the heavier weapon and quickly brought the lighter EMD up to waist level and fired. The first creature that had been ready to pounce on Abby fell to the ground. A second creature lay on the ground near Becker. Connor ran over to Abby just as she began to try to sit up.

"Abby! Are you OK? What happened? How did the creature get in this area? Where's the rest of the team?" he peppered her with questions as she slowly sat up shaking her head slightly.

Jess had run directly to Becker after Connor shot the first creature.

"Becker…..Becker…..Oh…. your leg!...Connor get me the first aid kit, Now!" Jess began to apply pressure to Becker's wound. Running her hands up and down his body, she began to check for any other damage he had incurred.

"Jess…" Becker's whisper caused Jess to immediately lean closer to him to hear what he was saying.

"Becker! Oh thank God, stay very still. You have a laceration on your right leg and it's bleeding very badly!"

"The creatures…?" he tried to sit up….

"NO, Becker, please…please lay back down. They're down. Abby took out the first one and Connor got the second one. Abby's OK….Connor is staying with her." Jess tried not to let the panic she felt be transmitted to her voice as she pleaded with him to stay quiet.

Connor handed her the kit and she quickly made use of the large gauze pad to apply direct pressure to his wound. Though the blood quickly drenched the gauze pad the direct pressure seemed to slow the flow. She grabbed multiple pads and began applying more pressure whilst searching for adhesive tape to apply the dressing.

"Jess…you're OK? I need to stand up…." Becker moved himself to a sitting position.

"Yes, I'm the least of our worries right now," she finished checking for more injuries and satisfied herself that this one, though worrisome itself, was the only laceration from the creatures vicious claws. Jess helped Becker into one of the chairs near the ADD, propping his leg up on another nearby chair. The movement caused the wound to begin bleeding again. Jess quickly added more dressing.

"Becker" she brought her face close to his. "You can't move this leg! This is a very deep cut and any movement is going to start the bleeding again. Please….just stay right here while I check on Abby. Please…" He looked at her pale face and silently nodded. He hated the feeling of helplessness that was threatening to overwhelm him. Their options were rapidly running out. He prayed that they could figure out a way to free his men to give them the manpower to deal with the anomalies. If Matt was still alive and able to help him and Abby, they would have only three to deal with the creature incursions while Connor closed the anomalies and Jess coordinated at the ADD. He watched as she helped Connor move Abby to one of the other chairs next to him. He needed to protect his team. He needed to protect HER.

"Abby, you hit your head pretty hard…How are you feeling?" Connor was using a flashlight to check Abby's pupils.

"I think she might have a mild concussion. She says every time she stands up she gets very dizzy and starts to feel sick…" Connor worriedly continued checking Abby for more injuries as Abby insisted she was fine while trying to stop the spinning sensation in her head that threatened to overwhelm her. As long as she remained sitting or lying down it did not seem as bad.

"Abby," Jess began, "I think you are experiencing some vertigo as a result of the concussion. You're going to have to sit here and not get up. The minute you get out of this chair the room's going to spin like you're on a carousel. "

Becker immediately began to assess their chances. With Abby down with a concussion, he was their only option besides Connor to deal with whatever came through the anomaly until he could figure out how to get to his men. He struggled to stand up and limp toward the EMD Jess had picked up and placed a few feet away as he felt a wetness begin to drip rapidly down his leg.

"BECKER!" Jess moved quickly over to him, pulling his arm over her shoulder as the room began to grow fuzzy and dark.

She was able to pull him over to her chair at the ADD. "Now, you listen to me, Hilary Becker….that wound will begin to bleed like a faucet EVERY time you stand up…..You will not make it more than a few steps before you pass out and won't be able to help yourself, least of all anyone else here." She spoke rapidly, her voice raspy with worry and exertion. She put her hand on his cheek as she spoke softly so only he could hear, "You need to trust me. I know what we need to do. You need to trust me so that we can deal with this….together…." she smiled softly into his eyes and he felt calmer. There was a plan. Jess would find a way to release his men and then they could deal with the creatures. She would be coordinating here at the hub and as soon as his wound was attended he would join his men and finish dealing with the incursions. He put his hand on her shoulder and gave her, what he hoped, was a smile of complete confidence.

Jess stood up, picked up the EMD she had placed in the chair and threw Connor the weapon he had dropped after he incapacitated the dinosaur. He neatly caught it as he looked first, at her, then Abby and then at Becker. Their eyes met with mutual understanding. Becker and Abby would not be able to deal with the creatures, but they would be able to sit at the monitor and coordinate their efforts. They would essentially become Jess at the ADD. Jess and Connor needed to deal with the creatures that came through the anomaly before they could close it. When she had been sitting at the ADD earlier, she noticed that the incursion in the auditorium downstairs was near an outside set of hallways that would lead to every room in the ARC. Essentially, those personnel trapped in those areas would be in the greatest danger since their escape routes were cut off….."sitting ducks" on a pond…she had noticed some movement on the CCTV cameras on the lower levels and hoped she and Connor would find some soldiers that had not been trapped with the others that could help them deal with the situation. If those creatures were able to enter those hallways, they could enter any room in the ARC, including the hub where Abby and Becker would be essentially helpless…NO….that could not, would not happen…she looked again as he discussed how they the two of them could deal with the anomalies….….She looked at Becker looking at her expectantly knowing he had no idea that her plan included everyone on the team doing something completely out of their normal job description….Hell, was there a job description for what any of them did for a living?

Jess took a deep breath and swiveled Becker's chair around to the front of the ADD monitor.

"OK…..here we go" she spoke rapidly as she waited for her plan to dawn on him. " First we need to try to get some of the comms up and running so you can feed us the intel. She pointed to a video feed. "These are the monitor feeds for the entire ARC. You should be able to access them here. Here is the ARC map feed. I've basically opened it for the entire ARC complex so you should be able to see where we are. I'm going to establish communication with Matt so he can give us intel from the lab. Connor told me he's locked in but has a connection to the ARC computers with Connor's laptop…."

Becker immediately grasped Jess' plan the same time that it dawned on Abby. He grabbed her arm tightly as he began to try to stand up again.

"NO way in Hell, Jess, NO…I won't let you…You, Connor dealing with this by yourselves…..Abby, me coordinating? …..No, damn it, what are you thinking?...NO….." the words spilled out as Abby stood up quickly from her chair.

"Are you kidding? The two of you alone with multiple incursions?" Abby's horrified look conveyed her thoughts on the plan. She looked at Connor as panic set in. She felt the dizziness threaten to drop her rather quickly to the floor and sat back down.

Jess knew now was the moment she and Connor needed to take control. They both needed to believe this was the only option because, well, it WAS their only option.

Connor spoke quickly.

"Abby, it's the ONLY option. We can't sit here waiting for them to spread through the ARC and kill us all one by one. Is that what you want us to do? Sit here….waiting for someone else to take care of the problem…we can't….You and Becker know that"…He knelt down next to her and spoke more softly.

"Abs, you know I'm right…"

Abby became quiet and looked directly into his eyes. Connor was the one who kept hope alive, helped keep her alive their year in the cretaceous…..if he and Jess were their best chance to get out of this alive then they deserved her best effort…..in keeping them alive by feeding them the information they would desperately need. She and Becker could do this.

Jess immediately stood up and grabbed the EMD's Becker had brought in addition to the one Connor brought. Kicking off her heels, she faced Becker with a smile that conveyed an optimism she didn't feel.

"They're new. I don't want to ruin them…..and their not exactly military issue…" she stated with a smirk.

Becker knew he had only one option. The many times he'd taken a new recruit into battle he always made sure that man knew he was ultimately confident that he would perform well. A good leader made sure his soldiers believed they could win. Now, he needed to give that to her: A woman who, whether he was ready to admit it or not, he loved beyond reason. A woman he was sending into one of the most dangerous situations they'd encountered. He pushed these feelings down as he gently laid his hand on top of hers as it sat on the monitor.

"Watch your back, Jess. Try to keep something solid at your back when you're shooting. It seems they like to coordinate their attacks with multiple hostiles. While one distracts, the other attacks from the side or back…You've coordinated all this from this chair and now you're just doing it in person…Coordinate with Connor so you aren't in each others crossfire…I know you can get this done. I just hope I can give you the same advantage sitting here that you give us every day in the field….."

Abby, sitting in the other chair, told Jess she had Matt back on the comms and within a few minutes she would be able to connect all of them. Connor began to direct Matt to the site he used to identify creatures and find vulnerabilities they could use in the field. As he talked softly over the comms, Jess came to stand near Becker.

Remembering their conversation earlier that morning Jess crouched down beside Becker's chair as he pulled up the maps page. He turned looking at her for a full minute as she looked back.

"I know we're both fish out of water right now, but all we have to do is….swim…..just swim," she whispered quietly, as she smiled at him.

Jess stood up quickly, the large EMD on her hip, and turned to head toward the lift. She suddenly turned back, looking down at Becker, her large blue eyes serious. Striding back to him she balanced the weapon on her hip, leaned down, and softly placed her lips against his. Becker immediately placed his hands gently behind her neck and kissed her back firmly knowing time was too short for more.

"Probably not a good idea to distract a soldier with a mission…" he said as he raised his eyebrow, smiling.

"Becker", she laughed, "That's not a distraction….that's incentive!" and strode quickly to the lift before she could think about what she was about to do.

Connor looked on quizzically…..

"What, Temple?" he barked.

"Well, I just had that scene pictured a different way…." Connor smirked.

"Shut it, Temple!" Becker scowled and grabbed a loaded glock he kept in the hub for emergencies. He threw it to him. "Just get her back here in one piece."

Connor leaned down to kiss Abby as she put her hand on his arm and walked rapidly to the lift where Jess was waiting.

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Oh dear….this chapter ran a little long. I'm not great at dialogue. Will most likely update weekly. Thanks for your kind reviews!


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER FOUR

Matt downloaded the picture that Abby sent him of the creature and quickly plugged it into the database Connor accessed on his laptop to find out what kind of animal they were dealing with. The body type seemed correct for a raptor type of creature but the huge eyes and larger than normal claw on the feet seemed to indicate another species. Scanning the pictures and descriptions and narrowing them down to a list of possible was difficult to perform quickly and Matt knew Connor did this every day. He couldn't count the times he'd pushed Connor to hurry and feeling not a small bit of guilt about that. It was nerve wracking trying to find information quickly while others around him might be hurt or killed waiting for the info.

He quickly focused on a raptor-like dinosaur from the late Cretaceous …Troodon. His heart sank as he began to read and assess the creatures features: One of the most intelligent dinosaurs to walk the Earth….pack hunting abilities…..large eyes to hunt nocturnally…used larger brain to corner prey in coordinated attacks…..prey was dispatched with numerous, vicious teeth and a larger than normal sickle-shaped claws on both feet. This was not a creature he wanted this team to meet under these circumstances…under any circumstances, really. He felt guilty for a moment for being grateful that Emily had decided to accompany Lester to the conference this week at the ministry. She had insisted on using her newly acquired driver's license to act as Lester's chauffer since his regular driver was on leave for a family emergency. They were due back later today and he knew if she were here it would add to his already mountain of worry. He needed to focus.

"Jess, I have the information on the creatures for you. You need to send this to Becker and Abby. I can't seem to contact anyone else but you" he quickly voiced into the comm.

"This IS Becker" said a perturbed voice into his comm. "Didn't Abby fill you in? Jess and Connor are dealing with the anomaly….."

"What the Hell? First I'm locked in this damn lab doing research that Connor would have completed 20 minutes ago and now you're field coordinator? Shit….where's Abby?"

"I'm right next to Becker…" She quickly explained the circumstances that had necessitated the entire team switching roles.

Becker stared at the screen in front of him as he watched the blips on the screen that represented Jess and Connor as the lift carrying them moved to the lower floor where the creatures had entered from the anomaly. He closed his eyes for one second and swore when this was over there would be no more putting off things he'd been wanting to do. Especially those "things" that he needed to say to a certain coworker. He just prayed after this he would have the opportunity to tell her.

"Becker" Abby began adjusting her comm. "I think I have Connor and Jess online now. We have to give them the info as soon as we get it because the comms keep going in and out. I don't know why but we may have limited time to direct them before they go out again."

Becker grimaced and quickly picked up his comm..

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Jess leaned against the back wall of the lift as it descended to the lower floors. She closed her eyes to calm herself. She needed to act quickly and intelligently to make sure she provided Connor a partner who could assist him in containing the incursion. One wrong move on her part could get him injured or killed. How did Becker deal with the stress of these situations? He had to protect not only the team but the general public when the anomalies occurred in a public place. No wonder he tended to bottle up his emotions. In dangerous situations, a calm emotionless soldier was the best asset a team could have. Did she or anyone else appreciate the incredible pressure he was under as the captain of his men. Time and time again he led them into dangerous situations and kept not only the team safe but as many of his men as possible. Oh damn…Becker…Her eyes popped open.

"Did I…..did I just kiss Becker…..right now…..in the control room…?" she moaned.

What had she been thinking? Poor Becker….. injured, worried for the team, and his coworker and friend proceeds to snog him right in the Hub…he was probably, at this moment, trying to remember company policy for sexual harassment….Things were definitely going to be awkward after this…..if she made it through alive, that is….

Connor looked over at Jess.

"What did you say?" he questioned.

"Oh, just trying to remember every firearms training I've been through" she said softly, smiling.

"No worries, Jess. Remember when we lived at your apartment and all those times I begged you to play Call of Duty on the Xbox? You were pretty good if I remember!" he smiled.

Jess looked ahead as the doors opened on the third floor hallway as she turned and became serious. "The only difference here, Connor, is that I don't think we'll "respawn" if one of these things takes us out.

Becker's voice came over both their comms.

"_All right, here we go. Temple, Parker the first incursion on this floor is directly to the right in Workroom 21C._" Jess smiled at his use of her last names, similar to the way he addressed his men.

"_Oh….and Parker_…" Though she couldn't see his face, Jess could hear the smile in his voice,"….._Stay warm_." Her smile broadened before she became serious and brought the weapon up to eye level as Connor led the way into the lab on the right. Connor silently motioned Jess to enter after him. Jess remembered Becker's advice about making sure Connor was not in her line of fire. She scanned a sea of boxes in front of her in the darkened room. A slight movement to Connor's right caused her to jump slightly. Connor quickly moved the EMD toward the movement as a large box fell to the floor.

"_Temple, I have a second movement in your area. ….could be another creature. Parker, station yourself at 3:00 across from him. You'll be able to see if another animal charges Connor while he's watching the first one. " _ Becker's voice sounded deafening in the quiet, dark room.

Jess nervously positioned herself across from Connor. As she listened for movement she suddenly realized her experience as field coordinator could be her asset instead of focusing on her lack of actual field experience. In her mind, she mapped out the room and created an overhead view as if she was looking at the room from her station. Looking in the area the first movement was located, she scanned the areas the animal would have been able to relocate to without being seen by either of them. A tiny movement caused her to raise her weapon just as the creature leaped toward an unsuspecting Connor. She quickly discharged the EMD as the human sized dinosaur fell to the floor unconscious.

Jess looked on shocked, as she began to smile. Suddenly, Connor quickly turned his weapon and fired directly at her as movement on a box above her head caused her to look up. The troodon fell head first, inches from her feet.

"You OK Jess?" Connor asked.

Jess nodded, pale. This work definitely required nerves of steel.

Connor touched his earpiece. "We have two creatures tranqed here in the lab, Becker. Bring on the next one."

_"Nice work, you two. You're doing great….You're going to need to work your way to the incursion in the auditorium. It's in the …Abby, not that feed…it's in the AUDITORIUM, not the menagerie….get me THAT CCTV feed….well hurry up…I'm not yelling, I'm speaking in my normal tone of voice…."_ Becker's voice got a bit louder as Connor and Jess rolled their eyes.

"Hey, you two, play nice and work together!" He smiled at Jess and silently mouthed the word "amateurs!" as Jess giggled.

"_OK, now that someone with the CORRECT camera feed is on the comm…..you need to proceed to the auditorium but I'm seeing some movement just before you arrive at Long Hall so stay awake and be ready for anything."_ Abby stated firmly.

"Will do Abs…" Connor answered, instantly serious, as they carefully advanced toward the auditorium.

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Becker quickly switched back to the maps program as he scanned for any non-synchronous movement ahead of Jess and Connor's forward progression. Abby looked over at Becker waiting for his part of the report. She had seen him face dinosaurs without the slightest hint of pressure or worry passing over his face and here he was sitting at the ADD with a look on his face she could only describe as "extremely stressed." With a small half smile she put her hand on Becker's forearm.

Looking up quickly, thinking she had seen something to endanger the "team" he saw Abby's small smile.

"WHAT, Abigail?" he huffed out.

"She's going to be OK. You're doing fine. She's doing fine."

He stared back at her with the beginnings of the words "I'm not worried" forming on his lips when he looked down, blew out a puff of air, and sat back for a second.

"I can't lose her now. There's too many things I needed to say, that I wanted to say but didn't. I just want a chance to …" he said almost in a whisper.

Abby smiled. "I know that feeling well and you're going to get that chance, Becker. Have the same faith in her that she has in you every time you go out in the field. They're not soldiers, but let's face it, they're two of the smartest people I've met and they'll figure out how to get this done and make it back up here alive."

She saw a small smile begin to form on his lips when suddenly he sat up straighter. On the screen a small blip appeared in an area about 60 meters ahead of Connor and Jess. It was headed directly toward them.

Becker tapped his comm, "Connor, Jess you have a possible hostile 60 meters ahead at two o'clock…..Connor?...Jessica?...answer me!...

The only sound coming through the comms was a constant, rhythmic static as Becker and Abby began pressing buttons and trying desperately to reestablish any kind of communication with their team.


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER FIVE

Thanks for all the kind reviews! Looks like this will be six or seven chapters….

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Becker began madly scanning any frequency available to find an available channel to communicate with Jess and Connor. He felt panic quickly rising and though his military training had taught him to focus and methodically attack the problem, this was different. She was different…not himself or one of his men in danger. It was her. He slammed his fists on the station and forced himself to fall back into a focused state.

"Becker…have you got anything? What's happening down there? Try to find the CCTV and see what's going on!" Abby and Becker began searching feeds.

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Matt felt helpless. He was stuck in this damned lab, Abby and Becker were injured and doing their best to coordinate Jess and Connor who were hunting down whatever the Hell came through the anomaly. He was doing…..nothing? What could he do that would help them? Something about these anomalies were sticking in his brain. What was it? The other appearance of multiple anomalies was in Derry, at a scientific facility. What did it specialize in again? He looked on the laptop again: Electromagnetic technology…..Didn't he see a report that the ARC had just been working on a high level magnetic field generator? He quickly accessed ARC reports for the last 60 days and did a quick search for reports containing the words "magnetic field." Several reports were highlighted. Marcus and Dean were working on a report about the Earth's magnetic field which wouldn't be similar to what was happening in Derry. He suddenly noticed the words "electromagnetic field generator" in a report by Wilson, Derring, and Michaels. The machine producing the field was as of this morning running its prototype test. Switching back and forth between the ARC reports and the lab in Derry he rapidly began noticing multiple similarities. The anomalies in Derry had been extremely difficult to close. His hypothesis was that the anomalies that had opened here would also be difficult to close unless he could figure out a way to turn off the experiment. Searching the ARC server he found he had access to the electrical field that served the lab where the field experiment was running. He could easily shut off that lab's power without leaving the rest of the ARC in the dark. He quickly ran the program and hoped that he had given the team a fighting chance to close the anomalies they were encountering at that very moment. Connor may have figured it out sooner, but Matt felt at least he had given his team a fighting chance.

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Connor and Jess moved quietly down the hall.

"Jess" Connor whispered, "I've lost Becker and Abby. I think we're going to have intermittent comms available."

"Shhhh….I hear something ahead of us…" Jess put her back against wall, ready to discharge her weapon again if needed.

Connor moved his EMD to eye level as two figures rounded the corner ahead of them.

A deep voice boomed from the hallway ahead of them.

"If you are ARC staff, please walk out into the main lobby so we may identify you. We are Lt. McKittrick and Sgt. Schooler. Be sure to walk out with hands in the air."

Connor and Jess looked at each other eyes wide with relief.

"Oy, don't shoot. It's Connor Temple and Jess Parker. We are coming into the lobby."

As Connor and Jess entered the lobby both soldiers lowered their weapons. Jess immediately recognized McKittrick from their encounter outside the armory that morning.

"Sorry to scare you folks but we can't be too careful. We have had no communications and the last information we have is that there is an anomaly on the upper floor near the hub. The scientists on this level were evacuated when they were unable to close the anomalies. We're going right now to see if we can establish communication with Captain Becker or Matt Anderson and receive orders to deal with this incursion.

Connor moved forward toward the soldiers. "We have been in communication with Captain Becker and team members Maitland and Anderson. We have instructions to advance to the auditorium and deal with hostile incursions in that area. We've already tranquilized two creatures in Lab 21C."

McKittrick looked at Connor cynically.

"Temple, are you telling me that Becker sent you here to deal with these creatures? Where is he? Where are the rest of the men? What in the Hell is going on? Why aren't you in contact with the Captain right now?"

Connor rapidly explained the situation with Becker and Abby's injuries and the fact that Matt Anderson was trapped in a lab. Jess could see that McKittrick was unconvinced. If McKittrick insisted on talking to Becker before he would help them, too much precious time would be lost. The creatures would have ample opportunity to leave the auditorium via the outer hallways and lives would be lost needlessly. She had to act. Suddenly, she remembered her conversation with Abby that morning about animal behavior. Jess needed to show McKittrick with body language and demeanor that she was in charge and she meant business. That meant speaking firmly yet not letting her voice get too loud, showing panic. She took a deep breath: shoulders back, striding forward. She'd watched Becker with his men many times and tried to imitate his confident gait.

"McKittrick" Jess' voice was strong and authoritative. "I don't have time to deal with your bureaucratic insecurities. We have the orders. We are to proceed to the auditorium and deal with the incursion there. THOSE ARE Becker's orders and if you need me to explain them using smaller words please let me know now and I'll make sure to note that in the report I file that intricately explains your insubordination was most certainly the cause of unnecessary civilian casualties in this incident."

She stood motionless, staring at him with the most intimidating look she could muster. The soldier stared at her, taken aback by her complete metamorphosis from their encounter that morning. He remembered his conversation with a fellow soldier that morning when he had not recognized her as the FCO that worked with the team. Miller, the other soldier, had high praise for the coordinator saying that every time he was sent into a dangerous situation, he was always glad to know when she was the FCO on duty that day. Her entire attitude projected confidence in what needed to be done. He knew he couldn't risk ignoring what she was saying. Stepping back, he turned to Schooler and ordered him to retrieve the weapons they had left on the floor in the hall.

"Here are your weapons, Temple…PARKER" he spoke pointedly putting extra emphasis on her name.

Jess let a small triumphant smile cross her lips for one second and then quickly slipped back into soldier mode.

My guess is that our best option is to coerce the animals into the long hall, away from the outer hallways. At that junction they would be out in the open and easy to stun." McKittrick pointed down the long hallway that stood in front of them. "Schooler and I need to get into the auditorium from the back hallway and drive them out here for you to shoot." He looked at Connor and Jess and indicated their weapons.

Connor stared down the long hallway and turned to address McKittrick.

"Look, I see what you saying, but if the animals get through this hall they're all over the ARC. We can't miss. That means the shooters have to be highly accurate with the weapons and in reality that isn't Jess and I. So, guys, guess that means that you have to be ready here in the hallway while Jess and I flush them out of the auditorium" He swallowed. That was definitely the more dangerous of the two jobs but logically, it made the most sense. The soldiers had the best chance of taking down any creature they were able to drive into the hallway. Unfortunately for he and Jess, going into the dim auditorium with its materials and boxes stacked 30 meters high meant too many places for the creatures to hide and attack from.

Jess looked at Connor and nodded. She fully understood the risks but knew it was their best hope of stopping the last group of creatures before they escaped from the contained area. She and Connor would approach the auditorium from the back hallways on opposite sides of the auditorium and using perhaps flash/bang devices and their weapons they could drive them into the hallway for the soldiers to stun. It was risky but it was a plan that had the best chance of working.

McKittrick looked as if he was going to protest but looked at Jess nodding in agreement and took a step back.

"Alright, Parker, Temple….good luck…." He turned with the Sargeant and headed toward the middle of the hallway near the armory where they would set up their weapons.

Connor and Jess looked down the hall.

"We'll need some flash/bang devices to create a loud distraction and drive them into the hallway. We can pick those up in the armory. Then we're off in separate directions." Connor stated while jogging with Jess down the hall.

He handed her 2 devices as each one checked their EMD's to make sure they both had plenty of power.

At that moment, their comms buzzed and Becker's voice sounded piercing over the silence in the armory.

"_Jess, Connor! Can you hear me? What's happening_?"

"Becker, it's fine. We met up with McKittrick and Schooler and we have a plan to drive the creatures out of the auditorium into the hall and take them out there." Jess' voice sound cool and calm and for a minute Abby and Becker let out a sigh of relief. Jess quickly relayed their plan to Becker and Abby. Both their voices came over the speaker at the same time.

"_Are you kidding? You two alone in the auditorium with those creatures? It's dangerous and there has got to be another option!_

"No there isn't…Wish us luck…" Connor spoke quietly as he turned to walk into the hallway.

Becker and Abby briefly sat back in their chairs, racking their brains for any idea that would make this plan of attack obsolete. Abby suddenly sat up. She remembered Matt's description of the creatures: Large eyes and nocturnal hunters. Her years of experience with animals recalled how many nocturnal creatures could be momentarily blinded by bright light. These animals large eyes could be used against them. If they could momentarily cause the lights in the auditorium to become extraordinarily bright in concert with the weapon fire and flash/bang devices that Connor and Jess were using, the animals should run toward the dimmer light of the long hall where they would be tranquilized by the soldiers. It could work. Abby rapidly explained her plan to Becker as they checked for a way to put their plan into action.

Jess and Connor stared at each other as they each entered an opposite hallway.

Connor grinned. "I guess after this we'll be glad to get called in for a tech support fix instead of military service…"

Jess smiled back and lifted her weapon. "I just hope Becker and Abby haven't messed up my ADD!" and turned to walk into the dim hallway, her weapon ready at her side.

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	6. Chapter 6

I was originally going to make this two chapters but I just couldn't figure out where to make a break so I just wrote one excessively long one. Last chapter here! Thanks for reading!

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CHAPTER SIX

Jess moved quietly through the dark hallway as she advanced to the side entrance to the auditorium. The halls she often walked through on her way to various departments in the course of her normal day now seemed threatening and eerie as her bare feet padded down the hall. She knew she was no soldier. Every sound she heard from the empty rooms caused her to start and bring her weapon to the ready position. She remembered when Becker conducted her basic weapons training which was standard for personnel who worked in the ARC. Becker had instructed her to keep her weapon at the ready but not to keep her finger constantly on the trigger to reduce the possibility of a misfire. He stood behind her, their bodies almost touching, as he grasped her wrist gently and moved her right arm into a more comfortable and natural firing position. She remembered her heart beating madly and groaned as she thought again of the kiss she gave him in the Hub. He probably felt guilt, not a surprise… that she had stepped into the dangerous role he usually played and while he definitely returned her kiss she was sure he felt she needed a vote of confidence and nothing more. At this point, embarrassment was the least of her problems.

Becker's calm voice came into her ear at that moment and she felt her cheeks turn red as if he could read her thoughts.

"_Jess, you're going to stop at the entrance of the auditorium until we can be sure Connor is also in place. Be sure to sweep the auditorium visually with your weapon ready BEFORE you enter the auditorium I'm seeing multiple targets in the area. There are more than a few large containers that the animals could hide behind so take your time and move CAREFULLY! At this point, we still have no communication with McKittrick and Schooler. I'm fairly sure if you were sitting in my chair right now, you'd have figured that bit out about 30 minutes ago…."_

She could hear his smile as his voice hummed in her ear.

"Well, I'm sure if you were standing in my position right now, the creatures would already be back through the anomaly and I'd already be writing my report on the successful containment of this incursion! I've decided after this little adventure I'm not going to be applying for a position in your department any time soon." She grinned.

_"Jess, Abby has come up with an idea that might help you and Connor move the creatures out of there. When you begin the advance to the auditorium….next…Connor….lights"…..Becker's voice began to fade in and out amongst static on the comms…._

_"Jess…can …..hear….."_

Jess sighed. Of course now WOULD be the time their communication would fade out. Right when she needed Becker…right when she needed Becker…...didn't she always need Becker?...this might be the last time she heard his voice…...a pat on the back when they'd had a difficult mission…..a joke or a smile when things didn't go right at the hub…she needed him…..she needed to tell him, just in case…just in case this didn't go well. He probably couldn't hear her anyway but if she said it and if something happened maybe later when they went over the feeds he would hear…..and know that even though it wasn't a returned, what she felt for him was real…..she touched her comm and made sure the feed went only to Becker's comm.

"Becker, I know you probably can't hear me but just in case I don't get to talk to you again, I think you are the bravest and best man I know. Not because of what you do but because you care enough to do it. I've loved you for a long time and…. I wasn't quite brave enough to say so and I know you don't feel the same….. but I wanted you to know….she touched her ear again linking her with Connor. ….. "Connor Temple are we ready to enter the lion's den…."

Connor replied, "_Jess Parker, whatever happens, you can be my wingman anytime_…" He grinned.

"Oh, Connor…been watching "Top Gun" again, have we?" she joked. "Ready when you are, Maverick…"

Taking a deep breath to calm her shaking hands, Jess brought her weapon to ready and entered the auditorium, surveying the area with her weapon before entering….just as Becker had instructed.

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Becker sat in front of the ADD frantically trying to find any button or switch that would restore communication with Connor and Jess. Nothing …..nothing he was doing, no magical reboot would bring the comms back. He sat frozen at the computer feeling an unfamiliar abject terror that he wasn't doing enough. Abby looked over at him worriedly. His eyes widened and a strange look came across his face as he seemed to receive some communication back but then it seemed to be gone again.

"What is it Becker? Did you hear something, anything…." Abby questioned him quietly.

"Nothing….no"…a look of determination crossed his face..…"we've got to be ready with the light magnification…I can see on the feed that their entering the auditorium…..we've got to get this right….we've only got one chance….." His face was strained as he prepared the electrical surge that would cause the lights to flare to high power.

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Connor entered the dark auditorium silently, pointing his EMD in different directions, waiting for some sign of the creatures. He didn't need to wait long. A small creature, possibly a juvenile troodon, darted forward toward him as he pressed the trigger of the weapon and watched as the animal fell quickly to the floor. He moved to the side of the room opposite the entrance to the door and began to methodically sweep each area to push the animals toward the exit.

Upon entering the enormous room, Jess immediately switched to coordinator mode. If she was viewing the room from the ADD, she knew that she would be looking for creatures that could not only attack from the side but from an upper vantage point which meant atop 20 meter high storage containers.

As she advanced toward the back wall, a noise to her right caused her to swing her weapon and without looking fire off a shot. A human sized animal immediately fell to the floor and because she remembered the information Matt had relayed about the creatures intelligence and ability to hunt in packs, she immediately swung her weapon around to the opposite direction just in time to bring down another similar animal attacking on her left. She grinned, despite the shiver that ran through her.

"Two down here, Connor. Might change my name to Lara Croft!" Her face became serious as she eyed the door. "Let's move forward toward the door"

"_Gotcha Jess!_" Connor advanced forward and looked to his left to see Jess doing the same.

They slowly moved through the warehouse/auditorium when suddenly he noticed the lights above them which were actually quite dim, suddenly flicker. At that moment, the lights surged and a brilliant light flooded the room. A creature that had been hidden behind two boxes near Jess suddenly screeched a warning sound and ran toward the doorway to the hall.

Jess and Connor immediately recognized the animals terror and at the same time pulled out the two flash/bang devices they brought and tossed them into the back of the room. The noise in combination with the lights and the loud noise drew out two more creatures who slid across the floor toward the dim light of the hallway.

Connor and Jess could hear the sound of EMD's being discharged as the lights returned back to their normal state. As they both walked toward the center of the large room, Jess shouldered he weapon and allowed a large smile to cross her face.

"I think that's….." she began to say through the smoke when suddenly Connor heard movement above Jess' head. A large shadow sprang forward and fell down toward the spot on the floor that Jess was standing. Without thinking, Connor reached into his belt and pulled out the Glock that Becker had tossed to him and rapidly discharged it twice as the creature bore down on her position on the floor knocking her into an a spot on the floor directly in front of the anomaly.

Connor watched as the anomaly began to reduce in size until it finally winked out of existence.

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Becker and Abby were frantically searching video feeds.

"I can't see anything! There's too much smoke in there!" The frustration was evident in Abby's voice.

Becker opened and closed windows as rapidly as he could but to no avail. He did find a message that a relay was damaged in the process and quickly switched to a backup system. Immediately comms were open and they suddenly had access to the lockdown program. They grinned and immediately began manually pushing buttons that would release all the doors that were locked including the rooms with soldiers and the lab where Matt was working. Becker put his hand to his ear.

"Jess! You and Connor, OK? Looks like McKittrick and Schooler have tranqed the troodons you drove into the hallway…I'm not seeing any more incursions…" A momentary silence crossed the comms.

Becker shifted in his chair and tried to stand up.

"Jess I need you to answer me immediately! Connor, what's going on?" He was grasping the edge of the table with white knuckles.

Connor's voice came over the comms but didn't have the good news Becker so desperately wanted to hear.

_"Becker, Jess got knocked toward the anomaly by the last creature and I can't find her in all this smoke! I need someone down here immediately to make sure she didn't go through!"_

In all his years of military service, Becker had never truly felt the absolute dread and terror he felt at that moment. He started to limp toward the lift when two soldiers burst into the hub followed by several medics who noticed Becker's now bleeding thigh and swiftly shoved him into a wheelchair for transportation down to the medical wing. Abby stood up tentatively and felt immediately better as her vertigo symptoms eased and she was able to slowly walk toward the lift.

Becker's loud voice rang out over the hub.

"YOU ARE NOT TAKING ME ANYWHERE! I AM GOING DOWN TO THE AUDITORIUM TO CHECK ON MY TEAM.!"

The medics were insistently arguing that his wound would begin to bleed again if he tried to walk more than a few steps and an hour in the the medical unit would give them time to sew up the damage and make it possible for him to check after that. Abby knew no amount of coaxing would convince him to go anywhere other than the auditorium to look for Jess. In fact, now the medics were discussing sedating him as they were sure a head injury was the cause of his belligerent demands. She sighed and walked over to the medics.

"Gentlemen, I will be responsible for Captain Becker. I will wheel him down to the auditorium to check on the status of his team and then wheel him back to medical for treatment. I think that's just about the only way this will go smoothly." She put her hands on Becker's shoulders warning him that this was probably the only way they would release him.

He frowned, folded his arms across his chest and sat silently while the medics discussed if this treatment plan was feasible. They nodded and Abby slowly pushed him toward the lift.

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Jess heard sounds she couldn't identify but could see very little. She knew that the force of the troodon striking her had thrown her in the direction of the anomaly. She could see nothing and her eyes were definitely open. She sat up gently grabbing her weapon just in case more creatures were in her vicinity in this dark, strange place. As her thoughts cleared, she realized the sounds she heard were soldier's voices. Connor was directing them to find something, probably they were looking to make sure there were no anomalies. At least she hadn't gone through…When she woke up in the dark place, she was sure she'd been pushed through to the late cretaceous. Feeling with her hands she found a small tunnel. Grabbing her EMD she crawled from between the containers and walked silently to a dark corner near the front of the room. Her head hurt slightly and she didn't want to get in the way of the soldiers work so she simply sat down on a box, out of the way, leaned her head back and closed her eyes. She heard Connor directing the soldiers but couldn't hear what exactly he was saying. It didn't matter, she would rest here for a few minutes. They probably had moved Becker to medical and she would walk there in a bit to check on him and then begin writing her reports.

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Becker sat silently in the wheelchair as he and Abby went down to the lower floor in the lift. She wasn't quite sure what to say to comfort him.

"Becker, I know she's OK…They'll find her." He turned to look at her and she wasn't surprised to see the haunted look on his face.

"This can't be it. She HAS to be there and be OK…..I can't…" His voice began to break and he quickly became quiet again.

They arrived at the auditorium and Abby slowly wheeled Becker into the room. Connor smiled grimly at her and walked over to her and Becker.

"We're taking the search step by step. We found her comm next to the troodon so we can't use that to find her. But we WILL find her, this is a huge room."

"Becker, stay here, I'll be right back" Abby reassured the stoic captain as she walked toward a stack of boxes in the far corner discussing where Jess could possibly be.

Becker felt more panic than he'd ever felt in his life. Even the time he was trapped by enemy fire in Afghanistan…..that didn't even compare. He looked away from the soldiers and as he did he saw movement in a corner by the door.

She sat there with her eyes closed, sitting on a box and leaning her head back against the wall. Her cheeks were blackened by soot from the flash/bang with a bruise forming on one of her cheeks but to Becker she looked like the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. He stood up from his chair and limped over to her still form. Sitting down next to her, he placed one of palms against her cheek and whispered her name.

She started suddenly and her large, blue eyes flew wide open. As they stared at each other a soft smile began to form on both their lips. Becker spoke first.

"Jess Parker, you are the most brilliant, brave, and beautiful woman I have ever met or hope to meet in my life and you're right, I don't feel the same as you because there is no way on Earth you could possibly love me as much as I love you. I'm sorry it took your having to take down 5 dinosaurs to get me to admit it…"….He gazed into her eyes and slowly leaned forward and placed his lips over hers. Her surprise rapidly disappeared as she placed her arms around his neck, pulling him closer as she opened her lips to his and relaxed into his embrace.

Abby looked over her shoulder to check on Becker and began to grin. Connor turned to look and suddenly called off the search as the soldiers began to set up a perimeter.

When the kiss came to a natural end, Jess glanced down at the blood on Becker's thigh. She suddenly became serious.

"Becker, what were you thinking! We've got to get you to medical! I don't know if you noticed but you have a GAPING HOLE IN YOUR LEG!" she scolded him and put her arms around his shoulders to help him to the wheelchair as he grinned at her unrepentantly.

At that moment Matt walked into the auditorium, reuniting with his team.

Connor shook his hand. "Good work, Matt. Maybe you'll be joining the tech department after this mission, yeah?"

Matt shook his head and smiled. "I don't think I've got the "skill set" to do this job full time. But I've gotta say I'm impressed with your skill as team leader. I might have to step it up a bit to keep my job!" He slapped Connor on the back and walked with the group out the door.

At that moment, James Lester came quickly striding into the hallway followed by a concerned Emily.

"Matt, what has happened? Is Becker OK? Are you OK?"Emily glanced between members of the team with a confused look on her face.

"I arrive at my office after being driven around for two days by an absolute mad woman who seems to have memorized every traffic law of this city and refuses to break a single one. It took us two hours to get home from the conference when it should have take us one! This woman needs a course in taking orders from a superior!" He glanced back at an unrepentant Emily, who smiled sweetly.

"I'm really an excellent driver!" she grinned. "He's just an awful, what do you call it, back door driver.

Abby laughed. "You mean back SEAT driver Emily….and I imagine you're most right about that!"

Lester continued. "Not only that, but when I return to the ARC after my ride through Hell, when I ask to speak to the FCO in charge, I'm told to talk to Becker and Abby. After I inquire who the Hell is doing Becker's job, they inform me to talk to Temple and Parker? Have I stepped through an anomaly without my knowledge and landed in some kind of alternate universe?"

At that moment, Mckittrick walked up to Jess and Becker as they turned to make their way to medical.

"Sir, we were able to get the tranqed animals back through the anomaly on the first floor before it closed. We've established a perimeter to check for any further activity."

"Sir" he saluted Becker before turning toward Jess.

"Ma'am" he saluted her also with a bemused smile and turned on his heel and walked down the hallway.

Becker smiled up at her. "I hope my men still follow ME after this!"

Jess leaned down and kissed Becker lightly on the lips. "I resign my commission effective immediately" she whispered and turned his wheelchair toward the medical bay.

Becker called Connor over before they left. He looked up as Connor handed him the Glock he had given him and grinned.

His eyes serious, he put his hand on Connor's arm.

"Thanks for…" He looked up at Jess who was talking to Lester.

"Anytime Captain!" Connor quickly grasped Abby's hand and led her toward medical for treatment.

Jess stood and Becker sat in the lift waiting for the door to close.

"You know, I really shouldn't be left alone tonight. Maybe Lester could have one of my men stop by and check on me." He said looking contemplative.

Jess laughed. "I wouldn't trust any of MY men with that task so I will assign myself to that detail.

Becker smiled as the doors closed. "Wouldn't have it any other way, ma'am…"

THE END

Thank you for everyone who read and reviewed. Special thanks to Youhavelovelyhair, Drawn to Darkness, Rubytronix, and Prawn crackers for all you encouragement.

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